Asia-Pacific shares mixed as Australia holds interest rates steady
The Reserve Bank of Australia on Tuesday released minutes from its November monetary policy meeting.
MikeTyes
SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Tuesday trade as the Reserve Bank of Australia released minutes from its recent monetary policy meeting.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia declined 0.48%.
Australia's central bank is expected to keep the interest rate steady until 2024, according to minutes from its November monetary policy meeting released Tuesday.
"Given the latest data and forecasts, the central scenario for the economy continued to be consistent with the cash rate remaining at its current level until 2024," the minutes said.
Elsewhere, mainland Chinese stocks were little changed with the Shanghai composite largely flat while the Shenzhen component dipped fractionally. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index advanced 0.24%.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan slipped slightly while the Topix index climbed 0.28%. In South Korea, the Kospi hovered above the flatline.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.06% higher.
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Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 12.86 points to 36,087.45 while the S&P 500 was near flat at 4,682.80. The Nasdaq Composite dipped fractionally to 15,853.85.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 95.498 after recent rising from below 95.2.
The Japanese yen traded at 114.23 per dollar, weaker than levels below 113.9 seen against the greenback yesterday. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7357 following its bounce from below $0.73 seen late last week.
Oil prices were higher in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up 0.71% to $82.63 per barrel. U.S. crude futures gained 0.52% to $81.30 per barrel.
